Privacy Policy

Working draft, last updated 11 June 2026

This platform lets residents of Tunapuna report community issues to the Tunapuna Station Community Council. This policy explains, in plain language, what information we collect, how we use it, who can see it, and the choices you have. We have tried to be honest rather than complete, including about the things we cannot control.

Who is responsible for your information

The Tunapuna Station Community Council is the owner of the reports submitted through this platform. Doyen Civic Solutions Limited, a company registered in Trinidad and Tobago, builds and operates the platform (CommunityIQ) on the council's behalf, which in data-protection terms makes the council the data controller and Doyen Civic Solutions the data processor. A formal agreement between them sets out these roles.

The choice you make when you report

Every time you submit a report, you choose how you want to do it:

• Anonymously. We do not store your name, your phone number, or your email. You still receive a tracking number so you can check the status of your report.
• Identified. You share your name and a phone number or email, and you agree that we may contact you about your report. This lets the council follow up with you and send you updates directly.

What we collect

For every report, whichever way you submit it, we store:

• The category and description of the issue.
• A photo, if you choose to add one. We automatically remove hidden information from photos, such as the location and device data that phones quietly attach to images.
• The location, if you choose to share it, either as map coordinates or as a landmark you type in.
• The date and time the report was submitted, and the channel it came through (web, WhatsApp, or SMS).

If you report identified, we also store the name and contact details you provide. If you report anonymously, none of that is stored.

What we do not control, and want you to know about

It would be dishonest to tell you that nowhere on the internet is there any record of your report. There are layers beyond our platform that we do not control:

• If you use the website, your internet provider and our hosting company keep their own short-term records of the connection, the same as they do for every website you visit. We do not link these to your report.
• If you use WhatsApp, Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, knows the number you message from. That is how WhatsApp works. When you choose to report anonymously, we do not store your number on our side, but Meta still has it under their own policies.
• If you use SMS, your mobile carrier and our text-message provider keep routing records of the message, the same as any text you send.

For the most privacy on a sensitive report, you can use a connection or a phone you do not normally use, and choose the anonymous option.

How we use your information

• To review your report and route it to the right place: the council, the police station, or the Regional Corporation.
• To update the status of your report and, if you reported identified, to send you those updates.
• To publish aggregate, anonymised data, such as how many streetlight reports were made this month and how quickly they were resolved. This published data never identifies you.

Who can see your report

Reports about public issues such as streetlights, drainage, flooding, and illegal dumping appear on a public map and activity feed, showing the issue and its status but never your name or contact details.

Reports about crime, suspicious activity, and personal safety are treated as protected. They never appear on the public map. They are sent only to the council and the police station, and only you, using your tracking number, can privately check their status.

Officers at the Tunapuna Police Station see your name and contact details only if you chose to identify yourself and agreed to be contacted. If you reported anonymously, or identified yourself but did not agree to contact, the station never sees who you are.

Engineers at the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation receive drainage and infrastructure reports so they can fix them. They are never shown your name or contact details, whichever way you reported.

How long we keep your information

Reports are kept for as long as they are useful for community planning and record-keeping. Personal contact details for identified reports are kept only while they are needed to follow up on the report and are removed when the report is closed, unless you have asked to be kept informed of related issues. Specific retention periods will be finalised with the council and stated here before launch.

Your rights

• You can ask what personal information we hold about you.
• You can ask us to delete your personal information. If you reported anonymously, there is nothing personal for us to delete.
• You can ask us to correct information that is wrong.

To make any of these requests, contact the council office using the details below.

Children

Please do not submit reports that identify children, including names, photographs, or details that could identify a minor. If a report needs to mention a child for safety reasons, the council handles it with extra care and keeps it protected.

Security

Information is encrypted both while it is stored and while it travels over the internet. The platform runs on infrastructure that meets the same security standards used by banking and healthcare applications, with regular backups.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy as the platform develops. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.